


Foothold

by jar_of_stars



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-07 19:37:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18879862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jar_of_stars/pseuds/jar_of_stars
Summary: Endgame SpoilersNatasha searches for Clint right after the snap.





	Foothold

People were turning into ashes.

Natasha turned around searching for Clint before recalling that he was not on the battlefield. Anxiety crept up when she thought about him, Laura, and the kids. She ran various scenarios through her mind of who might have disappeared and who was left behind. She needed to go to them.

She had to give her account on what happened before she was able to slip away and use her phone. There was no answer from Clint’s cellphone or Laura’s. She sat through the ringing from their phones again and again taking turns on who she called. She did not know if she could accept that they were all gone. Would it be worse to hope that there was someone left for her to talk to?

The ringing was interrupted.

“Hello? Clint?” She spoke when whoever answered did not say anything.

No one spoke from the other side and she called Laura’s name along with the kids hoping to receive a response.

“I can’t find them.” Clint said hoarsely and sounded so lost.

“I’m going to you.” She promised.

“Natasha what happened?”

“It was Thanos. People disappeared everywhere because of him.”

“So-they…everyone…they are all gone?”

“I’m going to you, Clint. Wait for me.”

“How can everyone just disappear?”

“We are still figuring that out. But I’m going to see you first.”

On her way to Clint, she told him about what she could gather from everyone else’s reports. She recounted the battle at Wakanda and how they lost friends and allies. And lost more when they were turned to ashes.

Clint became silent and Natasha could not arrive fast enough. She changed the subject going through anything that came to her mind as she continued to cover the distance to the farm. She stopped talking a few times to ask Clint if he was there and could not stop the sigh of relieve every time she heard that he was still with her.

Clint hugged her as soon as she stepped into the house. Weariness caught up to them and they sat on the floor with their backs resting against the door to keep the rest of the world out.

“We were having a picnic.” This was the first time Clint spoke of what happened. “All of us outside. Together. I was watching Lila shoot an arrow and the boys were playing together. Laura was setting up the food.”

Natasha reached for his hand when he rested his head on his shoulder and waited him out.

“I turned around for one second and I couldn’t find Lila. Cooper and Nate were not in the field. And Laura was gone too. I couldn’t find them.  I _can’t_ find them. They are all gone.”

There was nothing left to say besides admitting their reality. She missed hearing the greetings of ‘Aunt Nat!’ from the kids. They leaned on each other and stared at the empty home from their spot on the floor until they fell asleep.

“I thought your calls were someone else that was going to tell me that you were gone too.” Clint confessed a while after they woke up. “You didn’t give up.”

“Neither did you. Come back with me.” Natasha insisted. “We can still do something.”

“I couldn’t help them.” Anger rose to the surface as he spoke. “Why are they gone? Will it happen again!? How is anyone chosen to disappear or to stay behind? What if they were asking me to help them? I didn’t see it happen.”

“Because of them.” She forced herself to feel the weight of their names. “There are people like Laura, Cooper, Lila, and Nate out there who need help. People who are lost in all of this and don’t know how or why it happened.”

“People like me who don’t know what to do now?”

She squeezed his hand as an answer.

“I’ll go with you. Just give me time to pack. Maybe we can meet more people like you.” Clint began to stand up.

“Like me?” She asked as she accepted Clint’s hand to pull her up from the floor.

“People who had gone looking. You looked for us, Nat.” He pulled her into a hug while remembering her calling everyone’s name when he gathered enough courage to answer his phone.

She nodded against his shoulder and hugged him back. “You are my family. I didn’t want to lose anyone.”

“I’ll go get ready.” Clint stepped away slowly and went to one of the rooms.

Natasha walked around the living room and looked at the drawings the kids had made. She saw herself included in the pictures. They will continue for them. They will fight Thanos and avenge them. They might be able to undo this and bring everyone back. She looked towards the direction she heard Clint moving to while packing. They just have to do this one step at a time and hold each other up.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.


End file.
